Mitt Romney's penchant for saying whatever he thinks might get him elected creates a challenge for a country eager to discern what he would actually do as president. That's true of every candidate for any office, but most would agree that Romney represents an extreme case. Some hints of the real Romney can be teased out: from his policy book No Apology, his campaign position papers, his cadre of advisors and likely cabinet members, and his public statements — and leaked private ones. But in general, little coming out of the man's mouth can be assumed to match what he has said before, let alone his true beliefs — whatever they might be.

But let's give it a shot.

Let's imagine that it is summer 2013.

Romney has been president for six months. The November election, in repudiating the Barack Obama presidency, also ushered in a slim Republican majority in the US Senate, and kept John Boehner and the GOP in control of the US House of Representatives.

In those six months, what has Romney done to reshape the country?

One thing is safe to say: Romney will not have suddenly reverted back to the ideologically moderate technocrat who was elected governor of Massachusetts 10 years ago. "He is beholden to all of these special interests," says Margie Alt, executive director of Boston-based Environment America, "so the Romney we had as governor of Massachusetts is not likely to be the Romney we get as president."

Instead, it's easy to imagine Romney's first six months returning us to the George W. Bush era, with corporations gutting their own regulations and oversight, energy profiteers raping the environment, and pre-emptive war — in this case, air strikes against Iran.

This sounds grim, but here's the good news — without anything close to a filibuster-proof cadre of 60 senators, it is unlikely that Romney and Republicans in Congress will be able to pass significant controversial legislation. And, given the extremist nature of the House GOP, realistic compromise will also be rare.

But that legislative gridlock could actually serve Romney's broader purposes.

Romney can assuage his conservative base by backing legislation that fulfills his campaign promises to them, without worrying about them actually passing into law — things like repealing ObamaCare, slashing non-military discretionary spending, de-funding Planned Parenthood.

He can then blame Democratic obstructionism, and use it as an excuse to do as much as he can get away with unilaterally — not unlike how Obama has governed in the last two years.

Anyone but Mitt Political leaders don't always rally around the front-runner for their party's presidential nomination, but they normally at least offer deference and respect. That doesn't, however, seem to be the case with Mitt Romney.

QUIZ: Candidate or Criminal? Of the 16 passages printed below, half were written or spoken by a 2012 Republican candidate for president. The other half were written by incarcerated criminals. Can you tell the difference?

The Year Ahead in Mitt Here's a quick look at some key dates for Romney, and what you might want to keep an eye on when his face pops up on your TV screen. Remember, there's a lot at stake: if he wins, you get at least four more years of Mitt-watching.

MRS. WARREN GOES TO WASHINGTON | March 21, 2013 Elizabeth Warren was the only senator on the Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee, aside from the chair and ranking minority, to show up at last Thursday's hearing on indexing the minimum wage to inflation.

MARCH MADNESS | March 12, 2013 It's no surprise that the coming weekend's Saint Patrick's Day celebrations have become politically charged, given the extraordinary convergence of electoral events visiting South Boston.

LABOR'S LOVE LOST | March 08, 2013 Steve Lynch is winning back much of the union support that left him in 2009.

AFTER MARKEY, GET SET, GO | February 20, 2013 It's a matter of political decorum: when an officeholder is running for higher office, you wait until the election has been won before publicly coveting the resulting vacancy.